Emmaus gets some revenge

Williams runs for 178 yards, 2 TDs for Green Hornets

They were numbers that had been starring Emmaus' football team in the face for six weeks.

But what the Green Hornets did on Friday night may just have erased those lopsided numbers from their memories forever.

After getting trampled on by Liberty on Oct. 8, Emmaus came from behind and beat the Hurricanes 16-7 to capture the Class 4A Eastern Conference title at Bethlehem Area School District Stadium.

"We had to get some revenge," said Emmaus' Joe Williams, who scored two touchdowns and ran for 178 yards on 11 carries before leaving with an ankle injury at the 2:57 mark of the third quarter.

The victory gave the Green Hornets their first football championship of any kind since sharing a piece of the East Penn League crown back in 1981, and the 24 wins by the senior class set a school record.

The Green Hornets needed no other motivation Friday than the recollection of what happened in early October when they allowed the Hurricanes to steamroll them for 409 yards rushing in the 34-21 loss.

But on Friday, Emmaus (8-4) gave up just 217 yards on the ground.

"There was no doubt that we wanted redemption because we wanted to show that we were a better defensive team than what we showed when we played the first time," Emmaus coach Joe Bottiglieri said. "Our kids really felt they had something to prove defensively."

Emmaus was particularly stingy in the second half. Liberty (7-5) managed only 89 yards of offense in the last two quarters, including just 48 on the ground.

It was a stat that had Liberty coach Dave Brown shaking his head afterward.

"We did everything offensively in the first half," the former Notre Dame Green Pond coach said. "We just didn't play well in the second half offensively. We told the kids it was hard to beat a good team twice."

Bottiglieri said his team didn't make any major changes defensively in the final 24 minutes, just a few tweaks here and there.

They did, though, pay close attention to everything what senior Green Hornet Tyler Davidson was doing.

"All of our kids defensively played hard, but Trevor's been the heart of our defense all year," Bottigliere said. "And looked what happened [Friday]. They rallied around Trevor. They know he's a good, tough football player and that he doesn't take shortcuts with things."

He does, though, come up with key interceptions.

With just under two minutes to play, Liberty had one last chance to make something happen.

But Davidson, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound linebacker picked off James McCarthy's pass to give the Green Hornets the ball back once and for all.

After a scoreless first quarter, Liberty got on the board at the 10:23 mark of the second quarter when McCarthy connected with Kier Williams on a 4-yard pass.

Emmaus responded by tying the game at 7 on its next possession, a series that Joe Williams owned.

The senior running back broke loose for a 27-yard run before taking it in 26 yards on his next carry for the touchdown.

He scored the game-winning touchdown with 6:00 left in the third quarter on an 85-yard run.

"He's the real deal," Brown said.

The Green Hornets' added a 38-yard goal just five seconds into the fourth quarter courtesy of Dalton Landis.